Bangkok-Suphanburi (Day 3)

Bangkok – Suphanburi (Day 3)

On to Suphanburi.

I left the motel quite early today and started pedaling North. I checked out some of the local communities along the river bank. Some places there were flooded but nothing too bad. The main road a bit away from the river, Route 3351, is a bit elevated and functions as a dam. Many roads here parallel to a river or canal are build that way, with flood prevention in mind.

I turned off westward soon, headed for Wat Tong Pradit. I passed beautiful vegetable plantations, riding on gravel roads. Soon I reached the temple, along Khlong Song Phi Nong. There’s another weekend food market along this canal, with a cool rickety wooden bridge leading over to it from the temple.

There wasn’t much happening when I got there as the banks of the canal were flooded at some points. Chedi Cafe was open for business, however. I parked my bike and balanced over the wooden planks leading to the picturesque coffee shop. The great ambiance of this little place, freshly brewed coffee and two different kind of cakes kept me here for well over an hour.

After crossing over the wooden bridge and wading out of the flooded weekend market I continued toward Wat Bang Sakae, a temple and village along the Tha Chin. Beautiful riding on farm roads here, with lots of birds. I stopped a charming sala, overgrown by vines and build over a pond. Rosella grew plentiful along this route, passing peaceful farmland with just a few well kept houses build on posts.

Past Bang Sakae I turned away from the river once more. I rode down a quiet concrete single lane road, with a huge flooded area to my left. I stopped for a while to observe the birds here. They retreated to a big tree in the floodland, a safe spot for them. I continued down this road until coming upon a gate. Beyond the gate the road disappeared in a fish pond. Shrubs, bushes and the flood made it impossible to go around the fish farm. I could see on Google Maps that I was just 200m away from a small village, with a temple. I’m sure during dry season it would have been possible to detour through the paddy to my left, but for now there was no choice – go back and around. I think I heard those birds laughing when I passed the big tree again…

Along the detour I stopped for cold drinks at a shop along Route 3351. I turned out that there were about 10 motel style rooms attached to this place, brand new and inexpensive. A good option to stay overnight in this area. As it was still quite early I moved on, soon turning West again, and soon this little side road was flooded, too. A four wheel drive pick-up truck came towards me, slowly negotiating the flooded road. I waved and the truck stopped for a moment. Greetings, all smiles, me pointing at the water, asking how deep it would be. No problem for me and my bike was the answer, laughs, thank you, and good-bye.

I happily followed the yellow center line – yes, sometimes even I appreciate having those roads with center lines. After a detour of some 10km I finally reached the village where I had not quite been about 2 hours earlier.

From here on it was one smooth ride along an irrigation canal, all the way into Suphanburi. Most of the time I had the option between a paved or a good packed earth road, leading through attractive small villages, bamboo goves and patches of forest. As I hadn’t had a proper lunch yet I stopped at a highway canteen when crossing Route 3318, less than 10km outside of Suphanburi.

Once in town I got a suberbe room at Suan Rak Resort, about 500 Baht. There was no English sign, but staff was all smiles and very helpful. As often in such places there was a deposit to be paid for the key. I took a quick shower, recharged my in the meantime – quick charging is a great thing – and then rode in direction of the city center. There were quite a few food options nearby, plus the usual 7/11, but as I had had such a late lunch I wasn’t really looking for dinner.

I crossed a small but steep bridge criss-crossed the nearby center with its evening food market for a while. Then I headed for a place with a live band, which I had marked on my map when planning the route. Not far away but hidden in a quiet quarter of the town this was exactly the place I was looking for. Sit back, relax, a cold Leo and some snacks later on when the band moved in. With the arrival of the musicians about 20:00 the place did get busy, and I enjoyed the Thai rock songs and ballads until well past 22:00. Great fun, I sure will return!